Iraqi refugee pleads guilty to people-smuggling charges

AN IRAQI woman who was granted permanent protection after coming to Australia as a refugee has pleaded guilty to people- smuggling.Samira Al Kanani pleaded guilty to three charges relating to the unlawful entry into Australia of two Iraqi men in March 2007 and February last year.She admitted taking a man’s Australian passport out of the country, knowing the travel document had not been issued to her.She also admitted taking part in bringing two non-citizens, Hassanien Mohammed and Ghaith Al Joubori, to Australia in contravention of immigration laws. Neither man has been charged with an offence.Her alleged co-offenders, who include an Australia Post employee, will face trial in coming weeks.Ms Al Kanani’s barrister, Jehane Ghabrial, told the Sydney District Court that before her client sought refuge in Australia, she had spent more than a year and a half in an Iraqi prison due to her Shiite Muslim beliefs.After she had fled Iraq her husband was also jailed and in 2000, Ms Al Kanani was told he had been murdered in prison.”Where people come from the refugee background, from places like Iraq, there are some fairly complex psychological issues at play,” she said.Ms Ghabrial said a specialist psychiatrist in the field of refugee trauma had agreed to examine Ms Al Kanani.She told Judge Greg Woods Ms Al Kanani was granted a permanent protection visa before later becoming an Australian citizen.”It is important for this court to understand her mental condition and to understand any connection between her mental condition and the offending,” she said.The judge said it was ”inconceivable” that Ms Al Kanani had been the ”mastermind” of the people-smuggling operation, but the facts suggested that she had played a significant role.”On the face of it there’s money changing hands in Iraq and somebody is making a dollar out of it,” he said. ”It doesn’t appear to be your client …”The prosecution applied for bail to be revoked in light of the guilty pleas and the strong likelihood of a custodial sentence, but the judge continued bail to allow Ms Al Kanani to get a psychiatric report.